Notes on Vikings

Druids
- Earth based religion
- Elders in the tribe

Less integration of Christianity in the north.

The Vikings believed in valhala - the afterlife
Oden (god of afterlife) would greet them as heroes if they died in battle.

Vikings
- Often referred to as Norse or Norsemen
- Older Edda is poetic Edda book about mythology
- Younger Edda is prose Edda book about mythology
- They were written in the 13th century
- Vikings were at their height in the 8th and 9th centuries
- The Eddas are written down by Christianized Norse
- A poet, Snorri Sturluson, in the 13th century wrote the Heimskringla (book of sagas and legends about the kings)
- These were not written until after the Vikings are either gone or Christianized


Norse Mythology
- Eddas tell us about the cosmology of Norse thinking (your concept of the universe)
- Midgard is our world. To the north of us, is Álfheimer (elves).
- To the south is Svartálfaheim (black elves).
- To the east was the world of Vanir in Vanaheirm, Muspellheim was the world of fire, and Jotenheimor was the world of jotnar.
- The west was the world of ice, Niflheim.
- Up is Asgard, world of the AEsir. This is where the gods are.
- Below/down is Hel, the world of the Nioavellir, netherworld.
- The area as far as you can go is Ginnungagap.
- We live in the middle of all of these worlds.

Runes are used before making decision
Yggdrasil tree

Raganarok
- War at the end of the world.
- Series of major events
- Included the gods Odin, Thor, Freyr, Heimdall, and the jotunn Loki


Vikings Coming to England
- The monks were mad and considered the Vikings "devils from hell."
- They had a very disciplined military way.
- Everyone was equipped with a knife, sword, and battle ax.
- 793 AD was the first major Viking sea raid
- 120 ships
- Christians were the victims of the Vikings.

Eric the Red and Leaf Erickson
- Conquered much of Europe
- Leaf Erickson yearns to explore and sets sail in 1000
- Vikings linked Eastern and Western hemispheres
- Christianity presents a reason to unite but find a resistance to give up ancient gods
- Bizerker passed easily through Pagan fire but not Christian fire

Harold Hadrata
- 15 years old